ENC In-Depth Podcast: EU – Turkey Relations
Our 6th and last In-Depth Podcast of the Beyond Erasmus series is dedicated to EU- Turkey Relations, from a historical, cultural, political and economic point of view. The discussion is part of a series of podcasts included in the “Beyond Erasmus: Education, Exchanges and Employment opportunities for youth in the EU and Turkey” training programme which is supported by Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Turkey. The programme involves topics such as promoting student mobility beyond the Erasmus+ framework, youth exchanges, internships, training courses, networking, access to funding for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and free market entrepreneurship and Civil Society Organisations (CSO).
The discussion between Çiğdem Nas, Secretary General of the Economic Development Foundation (İKV) and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director revolved around EU-Turkey relations in light of the historical ties between the two parties, current relations concerning migration and the state of democracy in Turkey and how geographic interpretation of the term “Europe” expands deep into Anatolia depending on the field of interest we look at. It was also mentioned how cultural and religious mixture in Turkey can be seen as a historical asset for Europe instead of a detriment. Finally our speakers highlighted the unique and strong economic ties between the EU and Turkey and shared their thoughts on what could be an alternative integrational framework if the path to EU ascension is out of the picture.
The discussion was co-moderated by Gülçin Sinav, Program Director at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Turkey and Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe & Central Asia.
You can listen and watch the in-depth interview here: